Texas Preservation Trust Fund | Texas Historical Commission

The Texas Historical Commission (THC) awards grants for preservation projects from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund (TPTF). The Texas Legislature established the TPTF in 1989. The fund is currently managed by the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company. Investment earnings are distributed as matching grants to qualified applicants for acquisition, survey, restoration, preservation, planning, and heritage education activities leading to the preservation of historic architectural and archeological properties and associated collections of the State of Texas. Competitive grants are awarded on a one-to-one match basis and are paid as reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred during the project.

The TPTF grant program application process is a two-step process. All applicants are required to submit an application form to the THC for review. The THC selects the highest-priority projects from the initial applications and invites those applicants to move forward to the second step.

Grant awards are typically in the $10,000-$50,000 range.
To be eligible for grant assistance, applicants must provide a minimum of $1 in cash to match each state dollar of approved project costs. For every $2 spent, $1 is reimbursed, up to the grant amount.
Grant applications are scored in four areas: endangerment, significance, project viability, and special considerations. Review the scoring criteria in the TPTF Grant Program Application Guide.

The Texas Preservation Trust Fund Grant Program is your opportunity to save and protect Texas' threatened historic structures and significant archeological sites. Grant awards may be used for restoration work, architectural planning, archeological investigation, archeology curatorial, preservation planning, resource survey, and heritage education training.

By submitting an application, you are notifying our office of heritage education needs in your community and advising us of endangered historic properties and archeological sites that may soon be lost if this valuable assistance is not provided. We encourage you to submit an application so we may continue to demonstrate the need for our efforts.

FY 2026 Texas Preservation Trust Fund Grant Program

The FY 2026 grant cycle of the Texas Preservation Trust Fund (TPTF) is now open! The amount of funds estimated to be available for the FY 2026 (FY 26) grant cycle is $330,000. Grant awards will be in the $10,000 - $50,000 range. Applicants who can demonstrate a positive impact from a project under $10,000 are encouraged to submit an application.

Initial applications for the FY 26 grant cycle are due Monday, February 3, 2025, by 5 P.M. CST. The most endangered projects will be invited to the second step of the application phase, the project proposal stage, in April 2025. Project proposals will be due mid-July 2025. Final grant awards for the TPTF FY 26 grant cycle will be made by the Texas Historical Commission at its Quarterly Meeting in late October 2025.

Please see our Grant Application and Guide, below, for more information about the grant cycle timeline, program parameters, and scoring criteria!

TPTF FY26 Grant Application and Guide

Special Funding Opportunity for Texas Panhandle and Dallas-Area Projects

Continuing with the FY 26 grant round, the TPTF program will award some funds earmarked exclusively for use in the Texas Panhandle and Dallas. These funds are mitigation for the partial release of preservation covenants held by the THC and must be used to benefit other historic properties in the same geographic area. While all other requirements remain the same, applicants in eligible areas may request larger grant awards than are typically available through the TPTF grant program.

Texas Panhandle

As part of mitigation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and in consideration for a partial covenant release, TxDOT allocated $500,000 to the TPTF grant program for the partial acquisition of the former historic Amarillo Helium Plant to use as right-of-way. These funds will provide one-to-one matching grants for eligible projects in TxDOT’s Amarillo District, which includes Armstrong, Carson, Dallam, Gray, Deaf Smith, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Potter, Randall, Roberts, and Sherman counties. The THC anticipates grant awards to be in the $10,000 to $100,000 range. The total amount of funds in this earmark available for eligible projects in the FY 26 grant cycle is $243,617.69. Grants require a one-to-one match.

Dallas

As the result of covenants released on several historic buildings at the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) in Dallas, over $1.4 million in funds were dedicated to the TPTF program for historic preservation projects in the City of Dallas. The total amount of funds available for eligible projects for the FY 2026 grant cycle is $783,719.00. The THC anticipates grant awards to be in the $10,000 to $250,000 range. Grants require a one-to-one match.

Program Policy
1. Multiple Grant Request: An applicant may submit no more than one application per grant cycle. The same eligible property or project may receive no more than two consecutive grants and no more than three grants within the span of five grant cycles. “Eligible property or project” is defined in the Texas Administrative Code, Title 13, Part 2, Chapter 17, Texas Preservation Trust Fund, Rule § 17.1 (i) and as used herein relates to a single historic property or collection of related historic properties, such as a college campus; a site, such as an archeological site; a collection of artifacts; or an event, including reoccurring annual events. Different scopes of work at the same historic property will be considered the same project. “Grant cycle” refers to non-emergency grant cycles only, and emergency grants will not be counted in considering whether a project is eligible to apply for funding. Prior grant awards must be complete, or an applicant must demonstrate good progress on an active grant in order to apply in subsequent grant cycles. Funds earmarked for a particular project are not subject to these limitations.
2. Minimum Score: An overall score of 73 points or higher out of 110 total points possible is the funding cutoff for grants in the FY 2020 and subsequent grant rounds. Grant applications that receive a score below this threshold will not be recommended for funding. Applications receiving this score or higher are not guaranteed to receive a grant due to limitations on the amount of funding available.
3. Courthouses: Courthouses eligible to participate in the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program (THCPP) program are ineligible to apply for TPTF funding. To be eligible to participate in the THCPP program, a building must serve or have served as a county courthouse, be owned by county or city government, be at least 50 years of age or certified as worthy of preservation, and have a current master plan approved by the THC to which grant funding would relate. In emergency situations, courthouses eligible for THCPP grants may apply for TPTF grants when the timing is more advantageous to address the emergency. Courthouses that do not yet have approved master plans may apply for TPTF grants for projects other than preparation of a master plan. Former county courthouses in private or nonprofit ownership remain eligible to apply for TPTF grants.
4. Historic Resources Surveys: Certified Local Governments (CLGs) eligible to receive funding through the CLG grant program are ineligible to apply for TPTF funding to complete historic resource surveys.
5. Private Residences: While private property owners are eligible to apply for grant funds, public benefit (such as open access and public use of the property) is a key consideration in grant scoring as part of the Project Viability category.
Guidelines
Types of Preservation Grants
Preservation grants can be awarded only for these types of architecture and archeology projects:
- Development (“preservation,” “restoration,” and “rehabilitation,” as defined by the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, 2017) architecture costs include professional fees to supervise actual construction, the costs of construction, and related expenses approved by the Commission; or archeology costs necessary for stabilizing or repairing damage sustained at an archeological site or for protective measures;
- Acquisition of absolute ownership of eligible historic resources and related costs and professional fees;
- Planning costs necessary for the preparation of property specific historic structure reports, historic or cultural resource reports, preservation plans, maintenance studies, or for professional inventory and/or rehabilitation of state associated held-in-trust archeological collections, professional archeological investigation for site assessment or data collection purposes and the subsequent analysis and reporting of those results to aid with archeological site planning;
- Heritage Education costs necessary for training individuals and organizations about historic resources and historic preservation techniques; or
- Historic Resource Survey for local and regional preservation plans or surveys, or survey planning.
Requirements for Eligibility
Project/Property Information: Projects including buildings/structures, landscapes, archeological sites, or collections associated with archaeological sites must have, or be determined eligible for, one of the following historic designations to qualify for funding: National Register of Historic Places, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, State Antiquities Landmark, or Held-In-Trust Collection. For more details, please visit the Preservation Programs page. For questions about designations and determining eligibility, please contact the History Programs Division at 512.463.5853.
Applicants Eligible to Receive Grant Assistance: Preservation grants can be made to any public or private entity that is the owner, manager, lessee, maintainer, potential purchaser of an eligible property, or any public or private entity whose purpose includes historic preservation. If applicant is not the owner of the historic property, then the owner must be aware of the application and agree to follow all rules and conditions of the THC that are required for receipt of funds for development or planning projects.
Eligible Match for Grant Assistance: Applicants eligible to receive grant assistance must provide a minimum of one dollar in matching cash to each state dollar for approved project costs.
Project Proposals: To be considered for grant funding, the commission will select initial applicants to submit detailed project proposals. The project proposal consists of professional documents describing in detail how the proposed work will be carried out. A qualified professional should prepare the project proposal and all project proposals for acquisition, development and planning must be consistent with preservation standards (Architecture: The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, 2017; Archeology: Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, 1983, as appropriate; Curatorial: Consistent with standards outlined in Curatorial Facility Certification Program). The project proposal must be reviewed and selected for grant funding by the THC prior to any construction work being undertaken.
Easement: All acquisition and development projects will be required to grant an easement to ensure the long-term preservation of the grant-assisted property. However, archeological sites are exempt from the easement if the site is designated a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL) or if there is an existing conservation easement equivalent to the program requirements. The easement shall run with the land and be enforceable by the State of Texas, and its duration will be based upon the cumulative amount of grant assistance as follows:
- less than $10,000 - 10 years from the start of the easement;
- $10,000 - $30,000 - 15 years from the start of the easement;
- $30,001 - $50,000 - 20 years from the start of the easement; or
- greater than $50,000 - 30 years from the start of the easement.
Recently Funded Projects
- TPTF Funding History FY 2020-2025
Recently Completed Projects
- National Hotel Artist Lofts/E.S. Levy Building, Galveston County (PDF)
- San Agustin Cathedral, Webb County (PDF)
- Noah Cox House, Starr County (PDF)
- Ancient Landscapes of South Texas (PDF)
- Bishop's Palace (PDF)
- Manuel Sanchez House, Zapata County (PDF)
- Sebastopol House, Guadalupe County (PDF)
- Texas Preserve America Youth Summit (PDF)
Review the Real Places 2021 Show Me The Money presentation for the TPTF Grant Program (PDF). The presentation will help applicants become familiar with the grant program guidelines and scoring criteria. THC staff tips are also included to help applicants submit successful grant applications.
The Medallion Summer Issue 2023 "Trust the Fund: THC Grants Help Endangered Historic Resources Thrive" (PDF)
The Medallion Winter Issue 2020 "Trust in the Fund: THC Grant Program Helps Preserve Historic Properties" (PDF)

Texas Preservation Trust Fund Contact

Contact Us

If you have questions about the Texas Preservation Trust Fund Grant Program, please contact the program administrator using the information listed here.

Phone:
+1 512-463-6047
Email:
tptfgrant@thc.texas.gov
Address:

P.O. Box 12276
Austin, TX 78711
United States